Places to Play: Plenty to explore at Milham Park in Kalamazoo - once you find it (with photo gallery, map)

KALAMAZOO – If you have time to wander, Milham Park in Kalamazoo can be a real adventure.

First, of course, you have to find the park, which is located at Kilgore Road and Lovers Lane – not, deceptively, Milham Avenue.

The park is almost 50 acres and filled with big, old shade trees. Portage Creek runs across the southwest corner, between the main playground and a variety of winding trails to explore.

The main playground has a large pavilion and two structures, separated by a path. The smaller has a castle look with windows, balconies, steps and four sets of slides. It is well shaded.

IF YOU GO: Milham Park in Kalamazoo

Location: 400
East Kilgore Road.

Hours: 8 a.m. to dusk

Amenities:

•
Restrooms

• Six regular swings

• Four baby swings

•
Multiple play structures

• Pavilions, picnic tables and benches

•
Grills

• Zipline

• Creek

• Softball field

My toddler wanted nothing more than to play on the smaller structure, but I decided it was time to move on when one of the semi-attended children playing there threatened to get a gun and shoot another child.

The larger structure had full sun and included steps, bridges, three slides, a tic-tac-toe board, monkey bars, ladders, a tunnel and a zipline. Very little of it was accessible for a 2-year-old.

"Having two separate ones is really nice," said Laura Ross, of Kalamazoo, mother of Ender, 5, and Owen, two-and-a-half. "It's lower-key and safer for toddlers."

The play surface is sand, and there were a few pieces of garbage in the sand and some graffiti on the structure. Everything seemed to be in good working order, though.

Crossing Portage Creek to the rest of the park can be an adventure in and of itself. A few bridges cross it directly, but one leads to a small island linked to the far bank by another bridge. The island is a popular place to feed the waterfowl.

"This is the park we go to when we come out," Ross said. "The biggest thing for (the kids) is the playground. For us, it's the paths. There are a lot of places you can wander and go. And of course feeding the geese — I'll probably get in trouble because I forgot the bread today."

The paths are tricky with a stroller — a lot of gravel, bumps and steps — but great to explore with kids. They criss-cross, loop around and up and down and sometimes they lead to more bridges and a few smaller and often unused play structures.